The Traitor Legions were led by the WarmasterHorus Lupercal, once a Primarch of the Imperium and the Emperor's most trusted friend, son, and adviser before he was corrupted by the promises and lies of the Dark Gods and his own inner flaws.

The Traitor Legions are the most powerful component of the Forces of Chaos. The flesh and Power Armour of these Heretic Astartes warped and twisted into new, darker and inhuman forms under the influence of the Chaos energies they were exposed to, and came to embody the corrupted Astartes' new allegiance. Following their defeat during the final epic confrontation, known as the Battle of Terra, the Emperor pronounced judgement upon the Traitor Legions. They were declared Excommunicate Traitoris.

Most of the remnants of the 9 Traitor Legions fled, along with the other Traitor Imperial forces that now served Chaos, chased by the Loyalist Astartes Legions into an area of the galaxy where the Warp bled into realspace, creating the permanent Warp Storm known as the Eye of Terror. Due to the nature of Chaos, and the temporal instability of the Warp, many of the very same Chaos Space Marines who revolted against the Emperor more than 10 millennia ago continue to fight their Long War against the Imperium today, having effectively been granted a tortured immortality by the will of the Ruinous Powers.

Contents

History

Renegade Chapters are generally made up of Chaos Space Marines whose Chapters or companies turned to Chaos after the end of the Horus Heresy, sometimes many millennia later. Some are not whole Chapters but simply warbands composed of a few tens or hundreds of Astartes drawn from the same original source and led by a charismatic commander or Chaos Lord. However, several of the Renegades listed here are simply Space MarineChapters that have turned on the Imperium of Man or been unfairly declared Excommunicate Traitoris for one reason or another, but still view themselves as loyal to the Emperor of Mankind and not to the corrupt edifice of the Imperium His servants have built over the last 10,000 years.

These types of Renegade Chapters are certainly no friends of Chaos or the other enemies of Mankind, though their lack of allies can often lead even the best-intentioned Renegades down the ultimate path of corruption to the willing worship of the Dark Powers, if only to secure their own survival when they are beset on all sides by enemies.

Through the passing of the centuries since the Horus Heresy, the Forces of Chaos have been further swelled by those Space Marines who have turned from service to the Emperor of Mankind to pursue their own agendas. Freed from Imperial dogma and traditions of their Chapter, these so-called Renegade Space Marines fully indulge the needs of their superhuman bodies and their militant minds.

They most often become corsairs, pirates and mercenaries, using their unparalleled combat skills to garner wealth and power for themselves, rising as tyrannical masters of pirate fleets and the masters of desolate frontier worlds. As they explore their new freedom from the discipline and strict purpose of the Adeptus Astartes, these Space Marines inevitably turn at some point to the Chaos Gods to gain more power to do as they will.

From this point on, they are fated to walk the path of the Chaos Champion as much as any of the original Traitors of the Horus Heresy. These Renegades are hunted men -- loathed by all the other Space Marine Chapters, who consider it their foremost duty before the Emperor to destroy any Renegade Astartes lest their vile shame and dishonour leave a black stain upon all the Loyalist Space Marines who have never turned their face from the light of the Emperor or their duty to Mankind for their own selfish gain.

Though never equal in size or power to the original Legiones Astartes, a modern Space Marine Chapter is a potent military force in its own right and when an entire Chapter turns Renegade it presents a grave threat to the Imperium. With all the resources of a Space Marine Chapter at their disposal, the Renegades of Chaos destroy Imperial armies, conquer Imperial worlds and despoil whole Sectors of the Imperium.

Such events warrant an extreme response from the Imperial forces, not to mention the other, Loyalist Space Marine Chapters. It is perhaps the greatest test of faith for a Space Marine to fight another Astartes and these internecine conflicts often have a terrible effect on other nearby Chapters. In these circumstances, such inter-Chapter wars tend to escalate quickly, engulfing many worlds with bloodshed. On occasion, those forces sent to deal with the Renegade Chapter may actually end up, in whole or in part, becoming corrupted and joining with those they were sent to destroy, just as happened to many among the Traitor Legions so long ago.

An example of just such an outcome infamously took place in the 34th Millennium during the Obscuran Uprisings. During the curse of 400 Terran years of anarchic separatist rebellions that shook much of the Segmentum Obscurus, at least 7 Loyalist Space Marine Chapters broke their oaths to the Emperor and took part in the looting and pillaging of hundreds of these Imperial worlds.

Of these Chapters, 2 of them, the Sons of Vengeance and the Silver Guards -- had at first fought on the side of the Imperium but turned Renegade after their vicious retaliatory actions against the rebel Free Council of Hannedra II. It is believed these Chapters found great freedom in unleashing their full wrath at Hannedra II and they soon gave up any pretense of serving the Emperor in subsequent brutal actions unleashed across the Segmentum.

The Emperor's Children

The Emperor's Children were one of the earliest of the Space Marine Legions to declare itself for Horus and his Traitors, fighting at his side against its own Loyalists during the Istvaan III Atrocity and against the Loyalist Legions during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. The III Legion and its Primarch Fulgrim had been corrupted following its encounter with the Slaanesh-worshipping xenos race known as the Laer and their world of Laeran late in the Great Crusade. The rot spread quickly through the Legion, and the Emperor's Children embraced Chaos, particularly the Prince of Pleasure, in all its depravity. Little trace can now be seen of the original armour and equipment of the Emperor's Children, covered as it is by skins of iridescent fur or scales, jewels, or the fantastical renderings of screaming faces or rutting beasts. The Emperor's Children fight for sensation and sensory overload, bringing a clashing cacophony of sound, colour, and energy to the battlefield.

The Iron Warriors

The Iron Warriors once formed the Emperor's legion of siege troops. They fought on a hundred worlds in the Great Crusade, laying siege to alien citadels and the palaces of Heretics with equal gusto. The Iron Warriors Primarch, Perturabo, excelled in the arts of siege and trench warfare above all else, and his treatise on fortifications and their reduction formed the basis of several sections of the Tactica Imperialis. The Iron Warriors betrayed the Emperor on Istvaan V, their mazes of bunkers and razor wire becoming a death trap for their Loyalist brethren instead of the sanctuary they promised to be. The Iron Warriors wear relatively unadorned armour that is commonly pieced together from the older marks for its heavier frontal protection. They favour heavy weaponry like Lascannons or Missile Launchers for long-range engagements, although well-equipped Iron Warriors Assault Squads are also rightly feared.

The Night Lords

Led by their saturnine Primarch, Konrad Curze (also known the Night Haunter) the Night Lords were greatly feared even before the Heresy. Curze believed in the use of terror as a weapon and his foes quickly learned to fear the night. The Night Lords were one of the first Legions to join Horus' rebellion, turning on what they saw as a weak-willed Emperor incapable of having the strength to lead. Even after Horus' defeat the Night Lords have continued to wage an unremitting campaign of terror against the Imperium. The Night Lords refuse to follow any of the Chaos Gods, and have become cynical, hard-bitten, and frighteningly ruthless warriors. They fight for the pleasure of it, and for the material rewards it can bring, and not for the worship of some deity. They look down upon their more dedicated brethren, whether they are fanatical Chaos Space Marines like the World Eaters, or zealous Loyalist Space Marines like the Dark Angels.

The World Eaters

Under the Primarch Angron, the World Eaters underwent psycho-surgery that transformed an already fierce legion into bloodthirsty berserkers through the use of cortical implants known as the Butcher's Nails pioneered on their Primarch's homeworld of Nuceria. When they betrayed the Imperium, it was of little surprise that the vast majority dedicated themselves to Khorne. The XII Legion fractured after the Heresy, scattering into warbands across the galaxy. However, any member of the World Eaters is likely to be bloodthirsty and violent. As is fitting to their patron God, the World Eaters wear armour as red as arterial blood, edged with brass and decorated with skulls and symbols of Khorne. Most disdain long-ranged warfare, preferring to close with the enemy to kill them with Chainaxe, Power Sword, and (if need be) Bolt Pistols.

The Death Guard

The Death Guard followed Horus into heresy, their sense of loyalty to their Warmaster and their Primarch, Mortarion, triumphing over their duty to the Emperor on distant Terra. The rebel Death Guard Legion was marooned in the Warp during the long journey to Terra to join the attack on the Imperial Palace. A mysterious, unstoppable contagion spread through the trapped fleet, putrefying all it touched. Mortarion himself became infected and in his delirium he called upon the Powers of Chaos to aid his Space Marines. Mortarion's fevered ravings were answered by Nurgle, and Mortarion became Nurgle's foremost mortal Chaos Champion and eventually his Daemon Prince. The Death Guard survived but they continue to bear the marks of Nurgle's first blessings upon them. Their once-white armour became stained and cracked where the bubbling foulness of their mortal bodies has erupted to the surface. They bear the three-lobed mark of Nurgle rendered as flies or rotting heads upon banners and shoulder guards. Their Bolters and Chainswords are caked with filth and rust but are no less deadly. Plague and contagion have become the Death Guard's primary weapons and they can be found anywhere in the galaxy spreading Nurgle's foul blessings.

The Thousand Sons

The path to damnation for the Thousand Sons Legion of Space Marines was longer than most, but its final plunge more complete than any. Even before the Horus Heresy the Sons' cyclopean Primarch Magnus the Red led his sons in the study of arcane lore and the practice of sorcery despite the Emperor's disapproval and the outright ban on such practices at the Council of Nikaea. When Horus gathered his forces, the Thousand Sons tried to use their occult powers to warn the Emperor of the Warmaster's betrayal. Disastrously the Emperor was mistrustful of anything tinged by Chaos such as the use of psychic sorcery that He had expressly forbidden at Nikaea and He declared the Thousand Sons Primarch to be taken captive and brought back to Terra for his disobedience. Leman Russ and the Space WolvesLegion were sent to devastate the Thousand Sons' homeworld of Prospero. To survive and protect their accumulated wisdom, the Thousand Sons sought the patronage of the Chaos Power Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways, greatest master of magic among the Chaos Gods. During the terrible battle known as the Burning of Prospero, Tzeentch transported Magnus and his surviving sons to the Daemon World in the Eye of Terror called the Planet of the Sorcerers. The surviving Thousand Sons have been split by internal schisms, their pursuit of occult knowledge estranging them from each other and even their cyclopean Primarch. A cabal of renegade Sorcerers led by their former Chief Librarian Ahriman unleashed a great magic upon the Legion to prevent further mutation and corruption of its members by Chaos. This Rubric of Ahriman however reduced most of the Thousand Sons to soulless suits of animated armour known as Rubric Marines, but left the surviving Sorcerers unmatched in power.

The Black Legion

The Black Legion is the only Traitor Legion to have changed its name in its ten thousand years of exile. In the First Founding the XVI Legion was created as the Luna Wolves. The Emperor subsequently allowed His favoured son Horus to rename the Legion the "Sons of Horus" in recognition of its accomplishments in the Ullanor Crusade and in honour of its Primarch. The Sons of Horus willingly followed their beloved Primarch and Warmaster into rebellion, fighting at the very forefront of his most important campaigns. When Horus was defeated by the Emperor at the Battle of Terra, the Legion's morale was shattered; their patron, their father, was gone. After the battle for the Imperial Palace the Sons of Horus renamed themselves the Black Legion, changing their Legion colours to black in memory and mourning of their fallen Primarch. They gave themselves to the worship of one Chaos Power after another and lost many of their number through possession and madness. The hardened survivors lead warbands against the Imperium to this day, still eager to expunge the bitter memory of Horus' defeat. The Black Legion has been reforged under the strong leadership of Abaddon the Despoiler, the former First Captain of the Sons of Horus, who has claimed Horus' mantle as the Warmaster of Chaos Undivided.

The Word Bearers

Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers Legion, was a scrupulous and dedicated follower of the Imperial Cult, and in many ways was the founder of the religion of Emperor-worship called the Lectitio Divinitatus that would one day become the Adeptus Ministorum. He led his XVII Legion in the building of vast monuments and immense rituals during the Great Crusade to secure the faith of those that were conquered in the God-Emperor. The Emperor rejected Lorgar's efforts however, telling him that He needed His Space Marines to fight and serve the secular Imperial Truth which disdained all religion and superstition, not worship Him. Lorgar's disillusionment with the Emperor's impiety drove him to worship of the Chaos Powers during the Pilgrimage of Lorgar undertaken some 43 standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy, entities that truly demanded worship and sacrifice from their followers. When Horus raised his banner the Word Bearers, who had largely driven Horus into corruption by Chaos from behind the scenes, eagerly followed him into rebellion along with a thousand hidden Chaos Cults they had established on the worlds they had brought into Imperial Compliance in the last days of the Great Crusade. The Word Bearers' fanatical zealotry has become dedicated to the worship of Chaos in its purest form, unadulterated by the veneration of any particular Chaos Power over the others. They are the only Traitor Legion that still maintains the rank of Chaplain, the darkly twisted individuals holding this office now known as Dark Apostles and leading their brethren in heretical prayers and insane catechisms. Immense cathedrals and rune-etched monuments still rise in the wake of the Word Bearers' conquests, but now they are blasphemous dedications to the glory that is Chaos.

The Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion was the twentieth and final Legion created in the First Founding. During the Great Crusade the XX Legion earned renown for its strict discipline and organisation. The Alpha Legion strove hard to outshine its brethren in all things and prove its worthiness to be among the older Legions. The war-lust of the Alpha Legion easily led them into heresy when Horus declared himself against the Emperor, though some legends say that the Alpha Legion secretly remains loyal to the Emperor in perhaps the greatest of the many deceptions and ploys it has worked. Here at last was their chance to prove themselves against opponents just as tough, as battle hardened, and ferocious as themselves. The Alpha Legion did much to ravage the Eastern Fringe during the Heresy, pursuing its own set of objectives far from Terra. In the ten millennia since they have continued to strike from bases hidden all over the galaxy. Unusually the Alpha Legion actively cultivates Chaos Cultists and rebels, multiplying their impact many times over. The Inquisition holds a special loathing for the Alpha Legion for their part in spreading Chaos Cults and fanning the embers of heresy into the raging fires of outright rebellion.

Renegade Space Marine Chapters & Chaos Space Marine Warbands

A

Abrial's Claw is a warband of Heretic Astartes that took part in the Scouring of Makenna VII. It was once led by the Chaos Lord Abrial Shard, who relinquished control of the warband to the exiled Iron WarriorsWarsmith Balduran during that campaign. Since that time, the warband has become infamous across many sectors of the Imperium.

Adharon's Reavers are a vicious warband of Chaos Space Marines who were once largely members of the Sons of GuillimanChapter of Space Marines. This warband operates as a small renegade corsair group under the former Sons of Guilliman Captain Adharon. This particular Chaos Space Marines warband was first identified by the forces of the Imperium of Man during the Siege of Vraks in 813.M41 when they participated in the defence of that world from an Imperial invasion.

The Angels Apocrypha were a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin or Founding. Little else is known about this particular warband in official Imperial records. Recently, they took part in the Cholercaust Blood Crusade in the 41st Millennium. The Cholercauset suffered a total defeat and all in its ranks were slain, including the Angels Apocrypha, by the mysterious Legion of the Damned.

The Angels of Ecstasy are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines devoted to the Chaos God Slaanesh who were once the Loyalist Space MarineChapter called the Sons of Ulthunas. They rebelled against the Imperium of Man during the action remembered as the Ganymethian Betrayal. It is unclear if they are merely Renegade Space Marines who refuse to recognise Imperial rule or are now fully committed to the service of the Prince of Pleasure as Traitor Marines, though their increasingly mutated appearance and Chapter colour scheme would indicate that this is firmly the case.

The Angels of Flame are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines about which little is known in Imperial records. The Angels of Flame Space Marine Chapter only recently turned Renegade in 999.M41, when they were sent on an extended mission of reconquest to the rim of the galaxy near the Ghoul Stars. Even now, Planetary Governors, Imperial Inquisitors and Imperial military commanders in the region wait with trepidation for the bloodshed that will surely follow when they next make an appearance as the newest servants of the Dark Gods.

The Angels of Pain are a Chaos Space Marine warband of unknown origin and Founding. Nothing is known about this warband except for their raid and destruction of the colony station of Trantarion in the Acteron Sector.

The Apostles of Contagion are a warband or vectorium of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Death GuardTraitor Legion that dedicate themselves to the service of the Plague Lord Nurgle. They are a vectorium of the 4th Plague Company, favouring viral bombardment and sorcerous saturation before the battle begins. They march from amidst billowing clouds of corrosive spores and infectious vapours, their enemies screaming and putrefying even as they struggle to fight back. As the Apostles chant the praise of Nurgle, packs of daemons rise from the organic slurry to join the fight, overrunning the enemy with a tide of bloated bodies. The Apostles of Contagion are led by the vile and infamous Death Guard LordNecrosius, the self-proclaimed "Hand of Nurgle." This Apostles are thought to be responsible for Zombie Plague infestations that broke out across the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks during the Siege of Vraks in 813.M41.

The Apostles of MinthRas are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were first encountered by the forces of the Imperium of Man inside the Eye of Terror Warp rift in the 33rd Millennium. Almost nothing else is recorded about them in Imperial records.

The Argent Hammers were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Talons of Anathrax, named for the Daemon World of Anathrax where they had been corrupted.

The Astral Blades were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. In 121.M37, the Astral Blades Chapter was led down the path to Chaos by their prideful Chapter Master, who had been possessed by the Daemon Etherak the Unrepentant. The Daemon's servants used sorcery to possess almost every battle-brother within the Chapter's subterranean Fortress-Monastery one by one, slaughtering those strong enough to resist. As the blood of the last of the fallen was still cooling, the possessed Space Marines plundered the Chapter's gene-seed stores and set off for the Eye of Terror. However, when their Battle Barge, Sword of Stars, reached high orbit, the Grey Knights were waiting for them. In the furious battle that ensued Grey Knights Terminators teleported onto the bridge of the Battle Barge and banished Etherak back into the Warp in the midst of a furious melee. Broken in body and spirit, the Chapter Master of the Astral Blades accepted the Emperor's mercy delivered at the hands of his "saviours".

The Astral Claws were once a Space MarineChapter created during the mid-35th Millennium's 10thFounding from an unknown genetic origin specifically to defend the Eastern Fringes of the Imperium of Man from any Chaos threats spawned by the massive Warp rift called the Maelstrom in the region of the Ultima Segmentum appropriately called the Maelstrom Zone by Imperial astrocartographers. The Astral Claws eventually turned Renegade against the Imperium and initiated the major rebellion and attempt at secession from the Imperium by the Badab Sector appropriately called the Badab War in the late 41st Millennium. Upon losing this conflict to Loyalist Imperial forces, including several other Space Marine Chapters, the surviving Astral Claws were corrupted by Chaos and fled into the Maelstrom. They are currently the leaders of a powerful band of Chaotic pirates and Renegades called the Red Corsairs who present a major threat to Imperial commerce and Imperial worlds in the region.

During the Helmabad Rebellion sometime in the 41st Millennium, Avenging Sons' Captain Gessart and his 3rd Company turned Renegade whilst fighting in the civil war on Helmabad against a force of Chaos Cultists, who had stirred up a rebellion against the Emperor, to save their own lives when the course of the battle went against them. Killing their Chaplain and those Loyalist Battle-Brothers who would not follow them, the Space Marines of the 3rd Company negotiated with the Traitors for safe passage to their Thunderhawk gunship in return for leaving the Planetary Governor undefended for the cultists to slay. After fleeing the planet, which had been struck by a Warp Storm, the 3rd Company painted over their Chapter badges and other Imperial symbols and set course for the Eye of Terror. It should be noted that Captain Gessart intended to continue fighting for the good of humanity, yet could not remain as part of the Avenging Sons Chapter after he had allowed the elimination of those Space Marines who had refused to abandon the world of Helmabad to Chaos to save their own lives.

B

The Baleful Eye is a Chaos Space Marine warband that has risen to prominence within the Screaming Vortex within the Calixis Sector. These piratical raiders are known for ambushing their prey and preferring rapid and brutal boarding actions. Their ships are adorned with cruel spikes and trophies of past conquests, while the red and midnight blue hull prominently displays images of a great glaring yellow eye. The raiders never leave any survivors and their victims' corpses are said to have looks of stark terror on their faces. What they witnessed can only be speculated as every video log, pic-catcher, and eyeball is removed from the target vessel.

The Berserkers of Kharadon were once a Loyalist Space MarineChapter which disappeared from the Imperium of Man from 153.M34 to 184.M39. During these five millennia the Berserkers of Kharadon turned to Chaos, and the bloody worship of Khorne, rechristening themselves the Skulltakers. With the Styx-class Heavy CruiserBlood Dawn leading their fleet as its flagship, the Skulltakers have raided and plundered across the galaxy, killing indiscriminately and gathering skulls in the name of Khorne.

The Black Skull is a Renegade Warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origins and Founding. When the Crimson SabresChapter began their descent into madness, they were determined to sell themselves dearly, and so, they turned to the Eye of Terror where they planned to die fighting the enemies of Mankind and in doing so reclaim their honour. The planet known as Nebulon was one of the outermost of the planets ringing the Eye of Terror, a world only occasionally veiled within that region. Onto that bleak orb swept the Crimson Sabres like avenging angels. In a twisted land of derelict hives the red-armoured Space Marines hunted and gunned down any quarry they could find. None could stand before them -- none, that is, until the Black Skull renegades emerged out of the stygian depths of the underhive. The two forces clashed, both nigh on Chapter strength, however, only the core of the Black Skull were Space Marines, comprised of turncoats from many disparate Chapters united by their self-serving nature. The remainder of their number were comprised of Chaos Cultists. The Crimson Sabres fought as one unifying force, and were able to overcome the renegade warband.

The Blades Eternal were once a Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown origin and Founding. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, and their current status is also unknown, though the Imperial Inquisition has withheld their final judgement on whether or not the Chapter should be considered heretical or extinct until more information is available.

The Blades of Magnus are a thrallband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos GodTzeentch that was originally formed by members of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. Following the destruction of their home world of Prospero at the hands of the Space Wolves and their subsequent flight to their refuge on the Planet of the Sorcerers, the Blades of Magnus began to work in secret to break the bonds between their Primarch and the Chaos God Tzeentch. Though they toiled in secret for many years, their hidden machinations were eventually discovered by the Daemon Primarch, who punished the Blades of Magnus most severely. Blasting them with eldritch power, the Legionaries and Sorcerers of this thrallband were reduced to soulless automatons -- mere vessels for the Crimson King to control -- like puppets by a mad marionette.

The Bleak Brotherhood is a warband of Chaos Space Marines whose origins remain unknown although i´t may possibly be a splinter warband of the Warp Ghosts. The Chaos God to whom it offers their allegiance, if any, is unknown.

The Bleeding Eye is a particularly large Raptor Cult that often acts as mercenaries. It is known to operate in cells across several sectors of the galaxy, allying itself with other Chaos Space Marine warbands. The Bleeding Eye is known for taking part in various acts of cannibalism, eating the remains of their fallen enemies.

The Blood Disciples are a warband of Chaos Space Marines who were once the 8th Company of the Emperor's WolvesChapter of Loyalist Space Marines. During a mission, the 8th Company made a Warp Jump that proved unsuccessful, causing them to become lost in the Immaterium for decades. During this time the 8th Company was corrupted by Chaos and emerged back into realspace decades later as the vicious warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Blood Disciples. Because the 8th Company of the Emperor's Wolves had originally been designated as one of that Chapter's assault companies, the Blood Disciples possess an unusually large number of ChaosRaptors, the Chaos Space Marines' equivalents of Assault Marines. Due to their chosen name, the warband is very likely dedicated to the service of the Blood God Khorne, but this is not confirmed and the Blood Disciples might also serve Chaos Undivided. Nothing else is known about the warband in Imperial archives.

The Blood Gorgons are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines that primarily raids the Baston Sector of Imperial space. Formerly a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter, the Blood Gorgons were created during the 21st Founding, known as the "Cursed Founding", sometime in the 36th Millennium shortly before the start of the Age of Apostasy. Led by their Chapter Master and later Chaos Lord Gammadin, who had been the Blood Gorgons' leader from the time of their Founding until the day when the Imperium declared them Renegade and Excommunicate Traitoris, a mere six decades later, the Chapter ultimately fled into the Eye of Terror after swearing themselves to the service of Chaos. They are an unusual Chapter of Chaos Space Marines, as every Astartes is ritually bonded to another through the use of a Chaotic ritual. The Blood Gorgons, who value their freedom and independence above all else, refuse to swear allegiance to any patron Chaos God, preferring to serve Chaos in general in the form of Chaos Undivided.

The Blood Wolves are a warband of Chaos Space Marines that were once a Great Company of the Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of the feral Space Wolves. Following their corrupted leader, Wolf LordSvane Vulfbad into damnation, these once-proud warriors are now sworn to the service of the Blood God Khorne.

Led by the Iron WarriorsWarsmithHonsou, the Bloodborn were a massive Chaos army of close to 17,000 Chaotic warriors, comprised of various Chaos Legions and Warbands, sworn in blood to his cause. Honsou led his massive Chaos army into the Realms of Ultramar, intent on wreaking terrible vengeance upon his most hated foes, the Ultramarines, following the destruction of most of his Grand Company on the Iron Warriors' Daemon World of Medrengard, by the formerly banished Ultramarines' CaptainUriel Ventris and SergeantPasanius Lysane. The name of this massive army was given by Honsou's erstwhile ally, the Daemon PrinceM'kar the Reborn, much to the disgust of the Warsmith. Ultimately, Honou's quest for vengeance was foiled, but it would take another six months of intense fighting before the taint of the Bloodborn's presence was expunged.

The Bringers of Decay are a special formation of Chaos Space Marines found within the Black Legion who are wholly dedicated to Nurgle. The Plague God has a strong following within the Black Legion; his putrid touch is evident throughout the ranks of its warriors. Under the dominance of the Chosen of Abaddon lieutenant Skyrak Slaughterborn, the current Lord Corruptor, the Nurglites have converted many to their cause. In battle, the Bringers of Decay are Abaddon's plague carriers and heralds of contagion, often appearing before other warbands of the Legion to sow infection and sickness amongst the foe. This could also be why many other warbands of the Black Legion will have little to do with the Bringers of Decay, repelled by the blessings of the Plague God they bear, and the pervasive stench that follows them.

The Brazen Guard were a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin or Founding. Little else is known about this particular warband in official Imperial records. Recently, they took part in the Cholercaust Blood Crusade in the 41st Millennium. The Cholercauset suffered a total defeat and all in its ranks were slain, including the Brazen Guard, by the mysterious Legion of the Damned.

The Brotherhood of Dust was a large Renegade warband created by the Chaos SorcererAmon after his exile from the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion, following his involvement with Ahriman and the casting of the Rubric of Ahriman, which was cast in order to halt the rampant genetic mutation of their former battle-brothers. This spell was only partially successful, resulting in the majority of their battle-brothers' flesh being turned into dust -- effectively turning them into mere automatons, known as Rubric Marines. This warband mainly consisted of exiled Thousand Sons but also consisted of disparate Chaos Space Marines from various Renegade Chapters and warbands. Amon's primary aim was to ease the pain of the Thousand Sons Legion that the Rubric of Ahriman had caused by destroying his former legion. To accomplish this goal, he needed to reverse the Rubric in order to kill them. To do that he needed Ahriman's knowledge of it. Chasing Ahrimn throughout the galaxy, he eventually took the powerful sorcerer as his prisoner. But Ahriman's allies freed him, which allowed the powerful mage to defeat thirty-six of Amon's Chaos Sorcerer allies psychically. He then took direct control of Amon's entire army which was comprised of Rubric Marines. Amon challenged Ahriman to a duel to the death and very nearly succeeded in killing his former friend. But Amon was eventually undone, when Ahriman called upon the power of the Rubric, awakening it within Amon's body, and turning his flesh into dust. The victorious Ahriman took Amon's Power Armour and assumed leadership over the powerful fleet and armies of the Brotherhood of Dust.

The Brotherhood of Lethe is a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Crusaders of Dorn. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Brotherhood of Lethe.

The Brotherhood of the Plague is a Chaos Space Marine warband of unknown origin. This warband's corrupted Astartes are ardent followers of the Plague God Nurgle. The Brotherhood of the Plague's most notable action occurred in 104.M35, when it took part in the notorious Bloodpox Campaign, fighting alongside the Death GuardTraitor Legion against the Dark AngelsSpace MarineChapter. The twelfth Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels Chapter, the esteemed Armaros, contracted the loathsome pox known as Nurgle's Rot. This resulted in his rapid deformation, and so, Armaros passed on the leadership of the Chapter and voluntarily committed suicide by stepping into The Rock's reactor chamber so as to prevent the contamination from spreading.

The Brothers of Darkness are a Renegade Space Marine Chapter of unknown origins or Founding. This Renegade Chapter is known to still rule over the home world gifted to them by the Imperium. There is little else known about this obscure warband in current Imperial records.

The Brothers of the Anvil were once a Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown origin and Founding. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Abyssal Crusade. During their sojourn into the Eye, they landed upon an ancient EldarCrone World and were captured by xenos Kabalites. After enduring horrific torture at the hands of their Dark Eldar captors the remains of the Brothers of the Anvil slaughtered their way back into realspace, unrecognisable as a formerly loyal Chapter. Now a Chaos warband, known as the Deathmongers, they have a brutal reputation for causing wanton destruction during their campaigns even to the point that they will cede a possible victory for the opportunity to cause more death and devastation for its own sake.

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The Carrion Hounds is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion. Vast hordes of Poxwalkers screen the advance of the Carrion Hounds. The warriors of this vile host hold a great affection for the shambling monsters, and often assemble morbid "collections" of infected souls, such as defeated Astra Militarum regiments or entire noble families.

The Children of Purgatos are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines of unknown Founding and origin, that was declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the High Lords of Terra for reasons that are not listed in Imperial records. What remains of the Chapter now operates as a Chaos Space Marine warband. The warband was founded and is currently led by Battle Psyker Kerberos. The Children of Purgatos specialise in undertaking ship-to-ship boarding actions as they often operate as pirates and reavers of Imperial shipping.

The Children of Torment are a special formation of Chaos Space Marines found within the Black Legion who are wholly dedicated to the service of Slaanesh. Hundreds of followers of the Pleasure God have sworn their allegiance to Abaddon the Despoiler and joined the ranks of the Black Legion. Under the guidance of warlords such as Devram Korda, they consist of multiple powerful warbands which comprise this hedonistic collective. These devotees of the Prince of Pleasure bow to Abaddon, for he grants them unending opportunities to wallow in the pleasure provided by the anguish of his mortal victims, and feed upon their gushing lifeblood. Even though they are devotees of Slaanesh, the Children of Torment are despised by members of the Emperor's Children, who see them as traitors to the Daemon PrimarchFulgrim and lapdogs of a lesser Warmaster.

The Claws of Lorek are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin or Founding. They have been noted by Imperial scholars as a possible splinter group of the Renegade Astral Claws Chapter. Allegedly, this splinter group went on a separate path of escape from the rest of their former Chapter during the final assault on Lufgt Huron's Palace of Thorns on Badab Primaris at the conclusion of the Badab War. Their current warleader, the Chaos Champion Lorek, has maintained the warband's allegiance to Huron Blackheart. The Claws of Lorek have been known to take on various assignments to find artefacts of power, to sow mayhem and destruction among the worlds of the Imperium, or to recruiting deep within the borders of the Imperium of Mankind's Ultima Segmentum to find disgruntled Imperial citizens or Renegade Space Marines willing to join their cause.

The Cleaved are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. These mysterious warriors first appeared during the insurrection on the world of Magma Codelian. The Loyalist Imperial Guardsmen of the 334th Iridian Regiment had pushed their way into the rebellious Planetary Governor's palace after a sustained bombardment. The regiment's Primaris Psykers realised too late that the architecture of the Governor's keep was actually a gigantic summoning circle. Amongst the choking fumes, the insurrectionists conjured reinforcements; not daemons, but Chaos Space Marines with strange, oil-like blood oozing from the joints in their armour. Though the new arrivals were massively outnumbered, the Power Armoured warriors exhibited an incredibly high pain threshold, fighting on through mortal wounds to eventually repel the Iridians' attack and secure the planet for the insurrectionists.

The Company of Misery is a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown allegiance. Since the degradation of their gene-seed stocks in the 32nd Millennium, the formerly Loyalist Chapter known as the Desolate Brotherhood found themselves assigned to impossibly dangerous and undesirable duties, including assaults on Death Worlds, Space Hulks and quarantine zones. Each time the Brotherhood believed they had won a reprieve, they were sent on an even more hazardous mission, plunging them into a spiral of dissolution and despair. After a catastrophe in the acid swamps of the world of Misery, the Chapter took a new name and left their duties behind, forever becoming sworn enemies of the Imperium and the illusion of hope. They were first encountered by Imperial forces on the world of Maddean IV in the 37th Millennium. A recent search of Imperial records concerning this warband led to the discovery of connections in the records between the Company of Misery and the Brethren of Mystery. Whether this is another unit of Chaos Space Marines with some prior connection to the Company of Misery is unknown at this time.

The Company of the Shadow was a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter known as the Death Falcons that was founded during the dawn of the 41st Millennium, hailing from the night-shrouded world of Bastonbeil. During the Conclave of Gathalamar, when the Chapter Master was away renewing his oaths of allegiance to the Emperor, something ancient and evil awoke beneath the underhive of Bastonbeil's capital city of Shadowhive, which served as the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery. This mysterious entity devoured millions of souls, leaving only mindless zombies in its wake. The Chapter responded in force, deploying the entire Chapter. It is unknown what transpired within the dark depths of the underhive, but after three months they emerged from the pits of blackness as grey-armoured, nightmarish spectres. They were no longer the Death Falcons, they had become the Chaos warband known as the Company of the Shadow.

The Corpsemakers is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion. The Corpsemakers see the destruction of the Imperium's grandest strongholds as their profane duty. Burrowing into the bedrock of enemy bastions like maggots through flesh, they undermine and corrupt the foundations so that the entire structure soon falls.

The Corpus Brethren are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Pleasure God Slaanesh. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the SentinelsChapter. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. During their sojourn into the Eye, the Sentinels found signs of Chaos Space Marine infestation and made planetfall on the Daemon World of Oliensis. The Sentinels hunted down and exterminated the goat-headed hedonists, but the cacophony of combat stirred Slaaneshi Noise Marines and soon the battle was joined. The raging conflict stirred the living planet itself, which swallowed the combatants into a large chasm. By the time they reemerged, the Sentinels were no longer recognisable, having been transformed into the Corpus Brethren.

The Crimson Sabres were once a Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown origin and Founding, until they began their descent into Heresy on the Jungle World of Umidia with the genocidal purging of the Balethu Cults in 928.M41. As punishment (or possibly reward) for the bloody annihilation of his worshipers, the Blood God Khorne cursed the Crimson Sabres to be haunted by the voices of those they had slain. Driven to madness, they Crimson Sabres set upon another innocent world and slaughtered its population as well. The carnage temporarily silenced the voices in their heads but eventually they returned to plague them once more. The Chapter was soon declared Renegade by both the Inquisition and the High Lords of Terra due to signs of continued psychological instability and over-zealous prosecution of their campaigns. Sevastus Kranon, the Chapter Master of the Crimson Sabres, led his warriors into the Eye of Terror to slaughter Traitors instead of spilling the blood of innocents, thereby gaining a temporary respite. Within the Eye, they became fully corrupted by the Dark Gods. When they returned to realspace, they had become the Chaos warband known as the Crimson Slaughter.

The Crimson Slaughter is a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown Founding and origin. They were once known as a Loyalist Space MarineChapter called the Crimson Sabres until they began their descent into Heresy on the Jungle World of Umidia with the genocidal purging of the Balethu Cults in 928.M41. As punishment (or possibly reward) for the bloody annihilation of his worshipers, the Blood God Khorne cursed the Crimson Sabres to be haunted by the voices of those they had slain. Driven to madness, they Crimson Sabres set upon another innocent world and slaughtered its population as well. The carnage temporarily silenced the voices in their heads but eventually they returned to plague them once more. The Chapter was soon declared Renegade by both the Inquisition and the High Lords of Terra due to signs of continued psychological instability and over-zealous prosecution of their campaigns. Sevastus Kranon, the Chapter Master of the Crimson Sabres, led his warriors into the Eye of Terror to slaughter Traitors instead of spilling the blood of innocents, thereby gaining a temporary respite. Within the Eye, they became fully corrupted by the Dark Gods. When they returned to realspace, they had become the Chaos warband known as the Crimson Slaughter.

The Crimson Sons are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos God Tzeentch that was originally formed by members of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. The Crimson Sons were exiled by their PrimarchMagnus the Red for aiding in the casting of the disastrous sorcerous ritual known as the Rubric of Ahriman. Despite this exile, the warband paid tribute to the Crimson King, their Primarch Magnus the Red, with their name and also by colouring their Power Armour a deep red.

The Crystal Harbingers are a thrallband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. The Sorcerers of the Crystal Harbingers delve into the hidden recesses of the Silver Towers to explore the Tzeentchian labyrinth to which they lead. Here they glean portents of the future and commune with daemonic entities, which they then use to terrifying effect in their wars against the forces of the Imperium.

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The Damned Company of Lord Caustos is a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown Founding and origin. These Astartes turned to the Chaos Gods after being declared Excommunicate Traitoris by an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, based on some flimsy and circumstantial evidence. They only turned to Chaos to survive in a galaxy hostile to them. They now live their lives as mercenaries for hire to the highest bidder, and will take Imperial clients under certain circumstances. The Damned Company of Lord Caustos is counted amongst the Renegade Space Marine Chapters by the Imperium of Man.

The Dark Tusks Chaos Space Marines are a Renegade Chapter or a simple warband of Chaos Space Marines apparently sworn to the service of Nurgle. The Dark Tusks served as mercenaries in the Halo Stars, often serving the agenda of those with nefarious or Chaotic agendas. Evidence suggests the Dark Tusks are followers of Nurgle, but they were encountered, by Squad Damocles of the Iron SnakesChapter of Space Marines, fighting alongside a Chaos Cult dedicated to Tzeentch, the Chaos God of Sorcery, on the world of Rosetta. The Dark Tusks wore corroded, rotten Power Armour and smelled of putrescence, decayed flesh and disease. They also carried an array of daemon weapons and "plague weapons". Unlike the majority of Dark Tusks, the leader wore shiny, uncorroded black armour with chains looped about him. The Dark Tusks are described as so degraded in their actions that they were more like animals than men when they were cornered by a Kill-team of the Iron Snakes on Rosetta.

The Death Falcons were a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown origin, founded during the dawn of the 41st Millennium. They hailed from the night-shrouded world of Bastonbeil. During the Conclave of Gathalamar, when the Chapter Master was away renewing his oaths of allegiance to the Emperor, something ancient and evil awoke beneath the underhive of Bastonbeil's capital city of Shadowhive, which served as the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery. This mysterious entity devoured millions of souls, leaving only mindless zombies in its wake. The Chapter responded in force, deploying the entire Chapter. It is unknown what transpired within the dark depths of the underhive, but after three months they emerged from the pits of blackness as grey-armoured, nightmarish spectres. They were no longer the Death Falcons, they had become the Chaos warband known as the Company of the Shadow.

The Death Mongers are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines known as the Brothers of the Anvil. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. During their sojourn into the Eye, they landed upon an ancient EldarCrone World and were captured by xenos Kabalites. After enduring horrific torture at the hands of their Dark Eldar captors the remains of the Brothers of the Anvil slaughtered their way back into realspace, unrecognisable as a formerly Loyal Chapter. As the Death Mongers, they have a brutal reputation for causing wanton destruction during their campaigns even to the point that they would cede a possible victory for the opportunity to cause more death and devastation for its own sake.

The Death Shadows are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines who were once a Loyalist Chapter of Astartes known as the Lionguard before they were corrupted in the 37th Millennium during their participation in the Abyssal Crusade. When they emerged from the Eye of Terror, the Lionguard were no more. They had been transformed into a Renegade Warband known as the Death Shadows. They are known to specialise in the use of sabotage and terror tactics against their foes. In the late 41st Millennium, the Death Shadows withdrew to the Fortress World of Sybari after a disastrous campaign against the Ultramarines. Whilst in the planning stages of a retaliatory strike against their hated Loyalist foes, a tendril of Hive Fleet Behemoth invaded the Sybari System and consumed the planet. The current whereabouts of the Death Shadows are unknown.

The Dolorous Gnaw is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 3rd Plague Company. Noxious Blightbringers are especially prevalent in the vectoriums of the 3rd Plague Company. Such warbands as the Putrid Choir or the Dolorous Gnaw rarely take to the battlefield without two or three Noxious Blightbringers to herald them into battle.

The Dragon Warriors are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Blood God Khorne who were originally Renegade Space Marines from the 6th Company of the Salamanders Chapter. Captain Terellus of the Salamanders' 6th Company led his warriors to betray the Chapter and the Emperor of Mankind and swear their loyalty to the Chaos God Khorne instead. The Dragon Warriors are specialists in short-range fire fights and melee combat, like all Khornate warbands. They also prefer the use of Melta and Flame Weapons.

The Endless Murder is a warband of Chaos Space Marines that splintered from the World EatersTraitor Legion. Nobody knows where the Endless Murder come from, or where they go when the killing is done. Appearing like a tidal wave from a becalmed ocean, they strike without warning and reduce all before them to bloody carrion and heaped skulls. Then they vanish once more like mist. Most recently, during the 13th Black Crusade, this warband fought alongside the monstrous Butcherhorde, a conglomeration of multiple World Eaters warbands led by the infamous Khârn the Betrayer, who led them in the slaughter of the Imperial world of Amethal in the Diamor System against the valiant defence of the Blood AngelsSpace MarineChapter.

The Extinction Angels are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines that has sworn itself to the service of Chaos Undivided. The Extinction Angels are one of the Renegade Chapters that turned to Chaos after the Horus Heresy and the Second Founding. The Chapter is infamous for its skill in launching planetary assaults.

The Fecund Ones is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 7th Plague Company. When an ImperialAgri-world is infected with one of the innumerable poxes of Nurgle, the warband known as the Fecund Ones are often the culprits. Belonging to the alchemically-gifted 7th Plague Company, the Fecund Ones are masters of brewing virulent blights and parasitic phages. They delight in sowing these putrescent gifts among the food supplies of the Imperium's oblivious masses, leading many worlds they invade to be crippled by either hideous vomiting plagues or widespread famine and starvation.

The Fire Reavers are a fanatical warband of Chaos Space Marines who are highly devoted to the Ruinous Powers, willingly offering themselves up to the Chaos Gods for possession by immaterial beings. Members of the Fire Reavers henceforth, become Possessed Chaos Space Marines, which is viewed as a great honour within the warband. This Renegade Chapter is known to still rule over the home world gifted to them by the Imperium. There is little else known about this obscure warband in current Imperial records.

The Fists of Olchis were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. They were lost after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, and they were declared Perditas by the Imperial Inquisition, who feared that if the Chapter still existed, it had been corrupted by Chaos.

The Flawless Host is a Chaos Space Marine warband in the service of Slaanesh. The members of the Flawless Host believe they are the embodiment of justice and purity. Their gene-seed was once free from Chaotic taint, and the rigid mental training of their former incarnation as the Loyalist Space Marines known as the Shining Blades, gave the Chapter an unshakeable faith in its own abilities. They were victorious in battle so many times that they convinced themselves they could not fail, leading to the Berillia Massacres of 498.M34. Their overweening pride and willful delusion caused them to attack, in a frenzy of indignation, any who questioned their magnificence. Renaming themselves the Flawless Host, they have scarred the Imperium ever since as hedonistic servants of Slaanesh, still believing themselves to be pinnacles of perfection.

The Flickering Blades are a Renegade Warband of ChaosNoise Marines which broke away from their parent Traitor Legion the Emperor's Children. Led by the infamous Noise Champion Volupus, this son of Chemos, decided to go off on his own to form his own warband. In battle, these warriors stride into combat wielding lithe swords that sing songs of death with every swing. From out of their twisted armour stretch numerous writhing tongues, each mutant maw licking its lips in lewd anticipation of the blood-splattering of close combat.

The Foresworn are a warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Word BearersTraitor Legion. The Foresworn were among the murderous alliance of Chaos Space Marines that served the Daemon PrinceKor Megron in assailing the world of Eydolim and other nearby worlds sometime during the latter 41st Millennium. This particular Chaos campaign was unusual, in that such overwhelming assaults and universal cooperation is normally the province of a Black Crusade. This speaks volumes of Kor Maegron's powers of being able to manipulate so many disparate Chaos Space Marine warbands to do his bidding. The hateful wrath of the Daemon Prince drew not only the Foresworn together, but also forged the great alliance between the disparate Chaos Space Marines and renegade bands. Indeed, as the fighting within Eydolim reached its zenith, it was Kor Megron who wrought the summoning of the daemonic host.

The Fractured are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Justicars. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time the Justicars made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as The Fractured.

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Gladiator Group 138 is a large warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the World EatersTraitor Legion. Gladiator Group 138 was among the murderous alliance of Chaos Space Marines that served the Daemon PrinceKor Megron in assailing the Shrine World of Eydolim and other nearby worlds. This particular Chaos campaign was unusual, in that such overwhelming assaults and universal cooperation amongst the Forces of Chaos is normally the province of a Black Crusade. This speaks volumes of Kor Megron's powers for being able to manipulate so many disparate Chaos Space Marine warbands to do his bidding. The first assault Kor Megron and his allies undertook was against the Hive World of Jones Crispin World. With his fleet unexpectedly entering orbit over the planet, the Chaotic forces took the Imperial defenders by surprise. The World Eaters of Gladiator Group 138 led the assault against the largest hive city, Fort Crispin, massacring all in their path. The world of Eydolim was next to feel the wrath of Kor Megron. The bloodthirsty Khornate Berserkers of Gladiator Group 138 played a crucial role in the Chaotic assault on this planet. With Chainaxes wailing, they smashed through Eagle Gate, butchered the defenders and then continued into the waiting guns of the Imperial Guard.

The Glooming Lords is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 6th Plague Company. The Glooming Lords are a morose host of killers who march to war surrounded by colossal clouds of droning black daemon-flies. They harbour a particular hatred for the sorcerous warbands of Tzeentch, whose vibrant, colourful vigour they regard as insufferable. Belonging to the 6th Plague Company, the Ferrymen, the Glooming Lords are led by heavy formations of Blightlord Terminators. Their bodies seethe with crawling flies as they crush the enemy contemptuously underfoot.

The Goremongers were a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin or Founding. Little else is known about this particular warband in official Imperial records. Recently, they took part in the Cholercaust Blood Crusade in the 41st Millennium. The Cholercauset suffered a total defeat and all in its ranks were slain, including the Goremongers, by the mysterious Legion of the Damned.

The Grand Order of Hermetic Blades is a Chaos Space Marine warband dedicated to the Chaos GodTzeentch, that was originally formed by members of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion who were exiled by their PrimarchMagnus the Red for aiding in the disastrous sorcerous ritual called the Rubric of Ahriman. They believe it is their role to guide mortal souls into the afterlife, in the manner of the ancient psychopomp spirits they once worshiped on the Thousand Sons' lost Legion homeworld of Prospero. The warband now seeks to send mortals on to the afterlife they so relish using the most harrowing methods they can devise.

The Graven Spectres were a formerly Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. In 365.M41, the Renegade Chapter assaulted the relic world of Syban, intent on plundering its great stasis museum. During their rampage they unwittingly released the Daemon Prince Knor from his millennia-long slumber. Soon the renegades were fighting for their lives against Knor and his growing daemonic army. A single squad of Grey Knights Terminators arrived to assist the beleaguered world, but found themselves vastly outnumbered and unable to overcome their daemonic foes. With little chance of success, they sacrificed themselves by activating the planet's stasis failsafe, freezing it in time forever.

The Grey Slayers were a formerly Loyalist Space MarinesChapter of unknown origin and Founding that became corrupted by Chaos. Inquisitor Thrax purged the Chapter of mutants and daemons, and the Chapter Master took his own life in shame. Untainted officers were raised up to lead the Chapter. The purge was apparently not quite thorough enough, as Inquisitor Thrax himself was soon afterwards corrupted by the Ruinous Powers and transformed into some sort of daemonic Chaos beast. The Grey Slayers' eventual disposition and fate remains unknown in current Imperial records.

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Hakanor's Reavers are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. They are led by the mighty Daemon Prince Hakanor who was formerly known as the Chapter Master Prometian. The Power Armour of these warriors now blazes with a heat that would melt its Ceramite plates if it was not sorcerous in nature. The plates now constantly crack and then cool and reform as a result of this constant heat.

The Hedonistarii are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Pleasure God Slaanesh. Though the exact origins of this warband are currently unknown, these Slaanesh-worshipping Renegades often raid the extremities of the Eastern Fringe in the Ultima Segmentum. The Hedonistarii are fleet-based pirates that revel in war for its own sake. So ready are they to tear down law and order wherever they find it that they have a long-standing pact with the anarchist Chaos LordDrathoni, whose Heldrake eyries are famed amongst the Renegade Warpsmiths of the Ultima Segmentum.

The Heralds of Despair is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion. The Heralds of Despair revel in prolonged sieges, and are obsessively methodical in their approach to warfare. After heavy bombardments and the severing of supply lines, they will seal an enemy force inside a fortress and watch as rot and hopelessness take hold of the inhabitants.

The Honourless was a warband of Chaos Space Marines from the Alpha LegionTraitor Legion. Led by Chaos Lord Sispyhon Vail, the Honourless met their end when they boarded and captured the Cruiser Internecia of Interrogator Raughn Kiefer. While Kiefer did survive the clash with the Honourless in the ruined freighter on the surface of Grendl's World, his Attilan Rough Riders and the Molidor Ogryn Auxilia were entirely wiped out, his Salamander tank was destroyed, and he was left on the planet mortally wounded. Despite all that, his acolytes aboard the Internecia were able to hide from the Honourless in the engine chamber. Kiefer was able to contact the surviving acolytes and ordered them to stop the Honourless at all costs, which they did by blowing up the ship by unknown means.

The Hounds of Abaddon are a special formation of Chaos Space Marines found within the Black Legion who are wholly dedicated to the service of Khorne. Within the ranks of the Black Legion, the greatest of the Traitor Legions which serves Chaos Undivided, there still exist thousands of devotees of the Blood God Khorne. These Khornate Berserkers are always at the forefront of the Legion's assaults, charging and howling into the fray. These formations are known as the Hounds of Abaddon, who revel in close combat, where they can spill the greatest volume of blood for their god, using razor-toothed Chainaxes, wicked Lightning Claws or even their own mutant fangs. Though the Hounds are not a single unified warband within the Black Legion, they are led by Urkrathos, the current Lord Purgator of the Chosen of Abaddon and commander of the Legion's Black Fleet. Urkrathos claims all followers of Khorne within the Legion as his own and directs them according to the will of Abaddon the Despoiler, the Legion's Warmaster.

The Knights Excelsior were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. During their sojourn into the Eye, the Knights Excelsior found themselves on the Dark Forge World of Temporia, home of the vile Warpsmith Valadrak. While investigating the strange mechanically-constructed world composed of endless manufactoria and machines, they were attacked by strange living Daemon Engines. Outgunned, the Knights Excelsior were forced to make a hasty tactical withdrawal, fighting their way back to their dropships. As they attempted to make good their escape, their vessels were attacked by a strange archeotech device that rendered their technology impotent, leaving the Space Marines at the mercy of Temporia's Daemon Engines. When they were last seen, they had been refashioned into the Renegade warband known as the Magma Hounds.

The Knights of Blood are a warband of frenzied Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin who are most likely servants of the Blood God Khorne. They have been responsible for numerous massacres of Imperial populations including the ones carried out on the worlds of Cadon, Helka II, Obsus Prima and most recently on Ornsworld.

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The Lionguard was once a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter before it was corrupted in the 37th Millennium during its participation in the Abyssal Crusade. When it emerged from the Eye of Terror, the Lionguard was no more. It had been transformed into a Renegade Warband known as the Death Shadows. This warband is known to specialise in the use of sabotage and terror tactics against its foes. In the late 41st Millennium, the Death Shadows withdrew to the Fortress World of Sybari after a disastrous campaign against the Ultramarines. Whilst in the planning stages of a retaliatory strike against their hated Loyalist foes, a tendril of Hive Fleet Behemoth invaded the Sybari System and consumed the planet. The current whereabouts of the Death Shadows are unknown.

The Lifeslayers are a warband of Chaos Space Marines that splintered from the World EatersTraitor Legion. They are known to wear faded battle-plate that is the result of the extreme war zones through which they fight -- to test their might against the very worlds on which they war. Most recently, during the 13th Black Crusade, this warband fought alongside the monstrous Butcherhorde, a conglomeration of multiple World Eaters warbands led by the infamous Khârn the Betrayer, who led them in the slaughter of the Imperial world of Amethal in the Diamor System against the valiant defence of the Blood AngelsSpace MarineChapter.

The Lords of Decay are a warband of Chaos Space Marines originally drawn from the Death GuardTraitor Legion though they have grown large by recruiting members of the other Traitor Legions and Renegade Space Marine Chapters dedicated to Nurgle who have deemed their commanders' attitude towards the Imperium of Man in general and the defence of Terra in particular to be too fearful. The Lords of Decay are known to have been led for a time by the Daemon PrimarchMortarion himself. The Lords of Decay are known to be the only Chaos Space Marine warband in existence to have attempted a direct attack on the Solar System and to have ever defeated a member of the Adeptus Custodes in combat since the Horus Heresy. They were also heavily involved in assisting the Forces of Chaos during the terrible Siege of Vraks. The Lords of Decay are primarily composed of Plague Marines.

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The Magma Hounds are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Knights Excelsior. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. During their sojourn into the Eye, the Knights Excelsior found themselves on the Dark Forge World of Temporia, home of the vile Warpsmith Valadrak. While investigating the strange mechanically-constructed world composed of endless manufactoria and machines, they were attacked by strange living Daemon Engines. Outgunned, the Knights Excelsior were forced to make a hasty tactical withdrawal, fighting their way back to their dropships. As they attempted to make good their escape, their vessels were attacked by a strange archeotech device that rendered their technology impotent, leaving the Space Marines at the mercy of Temporia's Daemon Engines. When they were last seen, they had been refashioned into the Renegade Magma Hounds.

The Malefactors are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Sigilites. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Malefactors.

The Mind-Eaters was a thrallband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion led by the SorcererHasophet. Hasophet, the Magister of the thrallband, believed he had received a vision from Tzeentch, the Chaos God of Change, that promised that he would eventually ascend to daemonhood if he completed nine hundred and ninety-nine special rites that would further the Architect of Fate's plans in the mortal realm.

The Mouldering Claw is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 1st Plague Company. The Mouldering Claw delight in brutality. They like to advance upon the enemy line as quickly as possible before hacking and bludgeoning them with plague-ridden blades, flails and axes. Even a single cut from one of their toxin-laced blades is certain to cause an agonising death. These are warriors of the 1st Plague Company, fanatically devoted to Typhus' cause, and the diseases they spread bring fresh waves of hideous Plague Zombies staggering into the grim light of battle, pinning the foe amidst groaning masses of undead flesh before the Mouldering Claw close in to finish the job.

The Murderghosts are a warband of Khorne DaemonkinHeretic Astartes dedicated to the service of the Blood God. Little is known about the mysterious Murderghosts, save that they are thought to have formed less than a standard century ago and they make extensive use of Raptors in their attacks.

The Night Stalkers are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. These shadowy warriors hail from the lightless, daemon-infested night world of Cthonis Ultra. They are masters of ambush, often seeming to appear from nowhere when confronting their foes.

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Those that dare betray the Warmaster seldom live long enough to regret their mistake, and those who do quickly come to regret their folly bitterly as their bodies and souls are subjected to the most abject of agonies. The Oath-Broken are no true traitors to Abaddon, but merely those who failed in their assigned tasks, or got badly mauled on the battlefield and crippled by horrendous wounds. Failures and cripples invariably lose the fickle attention of their mortal and immortal masters alike, and without the blessings of the Powers of the Warp to mend their limbs or knit their broken bodies together with mutations, the Oath-Broken are forced to fashion their own crude replacements: blades sutured to stumps, xenos appendages crudely grafted into empty sockets and ragged armour patched with whatever material the Eye of Terror deems to provide. And yet, woe to the fool who underestimates these dregs of the Black Legion, for an Oath-Broken's desire to again bask in the glories that only Chaos can provide is only equal to his hatred of any who still do.

The Oracles of Change are a warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from an unknown Chapter and dedicated to the service of Tzeentch. The Oracles are lead by the Chaos Sorcerer Amadeus Volkstein, who was once a Loyalist LibrarianEpistolary before being corrupted by the promise of knowledge and power offered by the Lord of Change.

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The Pallid Hand is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 2nd Plague Company. Masters of the armoured assault, the Pallid Hand employ a greater number of Chaos Predators and Chaos Land Raiders than any other vectorium of the Death Guard. Those enemies that are not crushed beneath their rusted treads are blasted apart by indiscriminate artillery bombardments. The Pallid Hand are part of the 2nd Plague Company of the Death Guard, and thus are willing hosts of the Warp-spawned plague known as the Ferric Blight, which furs their armour and tanks alike with flaking, contagious rust.

The Poisoned Chalice is a splinter warband of the Death GuardTraitor Legion. The Poisoned Chalice are led by deranged groups of Foul Blightspawn and Putrifiers. Rampaging across the galaxy with zealous vigour, they obsessively seek vile ingredients and hapless test subjects, questing to brew the perfect plague.

The Prism of Fate is a Chaos Space Marine warband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. They once ensured that adherents from each of the sorcerous cults of Prospero could be counted amongst their number, the better to steer their brotherhoods through whatever challenges their Primarch, and their Emperor, should ask of them. Since the devastation of the Horus Heresy, the Prism's sorcerers have focused ever more obsessively on the diversity of deaths they can inflict upon their foes. The warband's sorcerers take pride in never slaying one victim in the same way as another -- their longevity is such that imagination is counted the most kingly of virtues.

The Prophets of the Blighted Path are a warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Word BearersTraitor Legion who currently reside within the permanent Warp Storm, known as the Screaming Vortex, on the boundary of the Great Warp Storms that separate the Calixis Sector from the Koronus Expanse. The Screaming Vortex is a known haven for Chaos Renegades and Heretics. These frightening warriors have long maintained their presence within the Screaming Vortex. The Prophets maintain a potent force within their fastness, an orbital fortress trailing the world known as the Flaming Tomb, as close to the Inner Vortex region of the Screaming Vortex as any have gone. However, under the guidance of the Dark ApostleNaberus they have abstained from the constant warfare that grips the many other Chaos warbands of the Vortex. Instead, it is said they desire to see the rise of a great leader in the Screaming Vortex, one who can lead a war of destruction on the Imperium and allow them to follow in his or her wake, converting the survivors to the worship of the Dark Gods.

The Purge is a Chaos Space Marine warband dedicated to the Chaos God Nurgle, the Plague Lord. They despise life in all its forms and have waged war against aliens and Mankind alike across the 3,000 standard years since their founding in the 38th Millennium, though their origin remains unknown. They aim to exterminate all known life in the galaxy in service to Nurgle in his aspect as the Lord of Death. When The Purge attacks a world, famine, pestilence and death soon follow. They are infamous for their conduct of genocidal campaigns and the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons on civilian and military targets alike. They recently played a major role in defending the other Forces of Chaos during the Siege of Vraks by the Imperial Guard. Their current location is unknown.

The Putrid Choir are a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 3rd Plague Company. Noxious Blightbringers are especially prevalent in the vectoriums of the 3rd Plague Company. Such warbands as the Putrid Choir or the Dolorous Gnaw rarely take to the battlefield without two or three Blightbringers to herald them into battle. The Putrid Choir's march to battle is signalled by the baleful toll of the vectorium's tocsins of misery, wielded by its Blightbringers. Accompanying this maddening percussion come discordant battle dirges sung in praise of Grandfather Nurgle. Digging in amidst enemy territory, the Putrid Choir drive their foes mad with their droning cacophony, the enemy giving up defended positions and charging their guns rather than face the entropic aural torment.

The Reborn are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. They have been observed using very ancient, almost antiquated, patterns of weaponry. Imperial forces first encountered The Reborn over a thousand Terran years ago in 795.M40.

The Red Corsairs are a Renegade Chapter and warband of Chaos Space Marines who lead a vast fleet of pirates composed of mortals and other Traitor Marines that threaten Imperial shipping and Imperial worlds near the MaelstromWarp rift in the Ultima Segmentum, a region known as the Maelstrom Zone to Imperial astrocartographers. The Red Corsairs were once a Loyalist Space MarineChapter called the Astral Claws who were based on the world of Badab Primaris in the Badab Sector of the Ultima Segmentum. The Astral Claws were, ironically, raised during the 10th Founding in the 35th Millennium to guard against the numerous daemonic and alien threats emerging from the Maelstrom. Under the leadership of their Chapter Master, Lufgt Huron, the "Tyrant of Badab", in the late 41st Millennium, the Astral Claws sought to have the Badab Sector secede from the Imperium of Man, which resulted in the lamentable conflict known as the Badab War. In the final assault upon their Chapter home world, only 200 Astral Claws survived the final Imperial assault, and these Astartes, all corrupted by Chaos, fled with the maimed body of their leader into the Maelstrom, where they founded a new Chaotic empire. In time, the newly designated Red Corsairs became the leaders of a vast Chaotic pirate force of Renegades and Traitors that represents a major continuing threat to the Imperium in the Ultima Segmentum.

The thrallband of Daedophet the Red Echo, or simply the Red Echo, is one of many exiled and estranged thrallbands of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos GodTzeentch that was originally formed by members of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. Following the sorcerous ritual Rubric of Ahriman and its disastrous consequences, the Exalted Sorcerer known as Daedophet the Red Echo was exiled by the Daemon PrimarchMagnus the Red. Down the millennia, he eventually drew other exiled Thousand Sons Legionaries to his banner, forming his own thrallband. It is said that the Red Echo are constantly haunted by eerie harmonies -- whether this is the music of the spheres, the plainsong of old Prospero or the lingering screams of their victims is unknown.

The Red Heralds were a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin or Founding. Little else is known about this particular warband in official Imperial records. Recently, they took part in the Cholercaust Blood Crusade in the 41st Millennium. The Cholercauset suffered a total defeat and all in its ranks were slain, including the Red Heralds, by the mysterious Legion of the Damned.

The Reflected Ones are a thrallband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. The Sorcerers of the Reflected Ones view realspace as an imperfect mirroring of the Warp, and seek to scour the galaxy of its impurities by weaving world-spanning mutagenic spells. The ranks of their enemies devolve into Chaos Spawn and braying Tzaangor herds before the Thousand Sons even set foot on the battlefield.

The Relictors are a Renegade Space MarinesChapter founded in the 36th Millennium, though of an unknown origin and Founding. The Relictors are believed by some to be a Successor Chapter of both the Ultramarines and the Dark Angels, as gene-seed from both Chapters was probably used in their Founding, though this remains unknown for certain. When the Relictors were first established they were known as the Fire Claws. The Fire Claws were one of the 20 Chapters of the Astartes Praeses, created by the Imperium of Man after the Horus Heresy specifically to guard the threatened sectors of Imperial space surrounding the Eye of Terror. The Fire Claws were once counted amongst the most stalwart defenders of Mankind. But Chaos is insidious and a sinister secret now lurks at the heart of the Chapter, a secret that almost destroyed it and now threatens its very existence as well as the souls of its Battle-Brothers. Following the events aboard the Space Hulk designated the Captor of Sin, the Fire Claws became convinced that they could wield the weapons of Chaos against itself. The Fire Claws soon embarked on a Crusade to explore the worlds around the Eye of Terror to uncover more Chaotic relics. Over the decades that followed, many such artefacts were discovered and the Fire Claws Chapter became known instead as the Relictors. Eventually, their obsession with obtaining Chaos weaponry was discovered, and for their blasphemy, they were declared Excommunicate Traitoris by order of the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition.

The Revelation of Gore is a warband of Chaos Space Marines. This warband was once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding known as the Tempest Legion. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as The Revelation of Gore.

The Rotworm Brotherhood is a splinter warband of Plague Marines that has become independent of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's central command. This warband is led by a conclave of Death Guard Sorcerers who rebelled against Mortarion. They raise cults of mortal worshippers across the Imperium, their task to multiply like bacilli and spread the worship of Nurgle, undermining civilisation before the Rotworm Brotherhood descends to despoil all.

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The Sanctified are a warband of Chaos Space Marines and a splinter faction of the Word BearersTraitor Legion, that broke away from their parent Legion at the end of the Horus Heresy. They are followers of the Blood God Khorne, which precipitated their split from the Word Bearers, who preferred to worship the Chaos Gods as a whole. It has been observed that The Sanctified have the innate ability to locate newly founded Imperial colonies and Explorator fleets in the vast tracts of unknown areas of space, preying upon these targets for the last ten millennia.

The Savage Swords are a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter that turned renegade in 721.M39. Their Chapter Master led them down a path of retribution and blood when he mistakenly believed the Planetary Governor of Hyboras had stolen the Chapter's ancient relic blade. His Chapter committed a series of atrocities on the Feral World, but only when the Chapter Master sat upon the Governor's gore-stained throne did he realise the extent of his folly, though by then it was too late. When the Black Legion arrived, the Savage Swords had already fallen to the worship of the Blood God, Khorne, and joined Abaddon eagerly.

The Screaming Skulls were a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter known as the Calix Chapter, which were created during an unknown Founding and of uncertain origin. During some unknown point in history, the Calix Chapter broke their oaths of fealty to the Imperium of Man following the so-called Massacre of Ravenscar and willingly followed the Ruinous Powers into damnation. Following their actions, they were declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the High Lords of Terra. After their fall to Chaos they became the Renegade warband known as the Screaming Skulls. Following their involvement in the Constantinus Iconoclasm, their fate remains unknown.

The Scourged are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the service of Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. The Scourged are believed by some Imperial scholars to be a possible splinter warband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion but the truth is somewhat darker. The Scourged once served the Inquisition as the formerly Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines known as the Seekers of Truth. Chapter Master Gallus Herodicus was an honourable man and rankled whenever ordered to execute innocents. The injustice was draining the Seekers' morale, and in the night, Herodicus prayed to the God-Emperor for a way to know when a man was lying. Unfortunately, the Chaos God Tzeentch was listening and granted his prayer. From that moment, Herodicus and his men could hear every lie spoken by the mouths of Mankind. The Chapter went rogue within days. Though they could have saved the Imperium from heresy once and for all, the constant stream of falsehood in their heads has driven them insane and turned them against the service of what they now view as the Emperor's irredeemably corrupt Imperium.

The Seekers of Truth were a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown origin or Founding. Chapter Master Gallus Herodicus was an honourable man and rankled whenever ordered to execute innocents. The injustice was draining the Seekers' morale, and in the night, Herodicus prayed to the God-Emperor for a way to know when a man was lying. Unfortunately, the Chaos God Tzeentch was listening and granted his prayer. From that moment, Herodicus and his men could hear every lie spoken by the mouths of Mankind. The Chapter went rogue within days, becoming the Renegade Warband known as The Scourged. Though they could have saved the Imperium from heresy once and for all, the constant stream of falsehood in their heads has driven them insane and turned them against the service of what they now view as the Emperor's irredeemably corrupt Imperium.

The Shadowed Ones are a large Renegade Warband comprised of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Cultists drawn from the Alpha Legion. Following the tragic events of the Horus Heresy, during the unending bloodshed of the Great Scouring, the Traitor Chaos Warlord Dynat Mal, known as "Crowbane" for his ambush and slaughter of Raven Guard forces during the Battle of Lyx, fled to the Mandragoran Stars and gathered to him a coterie of Renegades, diabolists and Traitors thousands strong. Imperial forces sent in pursuit were repeatedly out-manoeuvred and cut apart piecemeal as Dynat's forces, now known as "The Shadowed Ones", employed guerrilla tactics and dark forces to extend their mastery over the region. After the vital Imperial outpost station at the world of Amarah, in what is now the Orpheus Sector of the Segmentum Tempestus, was attacked and destroyed, its entire population slaughtered and stockpiles plundered, any Imperial claim to the region is effectively severed. This sundered realm, caught beyond the light of the Imperium at the edges of the Veiled Region, became known as the Dark Marches and is benighted by ignorance and discord, and is shrouded from human sight.

The Shatter Corps is an Iron WarriorsChaos Space Marine warband active in the Warp rift known as the Screaming Vortex. They are led by the Warsmith Madrydon Drados. Under Drados' command, the Shatter Corps seeks to destroy the Imperium's many fortifications and fortresses throughout the sectors that lay near the Screaming Vortex. By doing so, Drados believes the Imperium will soon topple beneath its own weight and leave itself open to be attacked by the Forces of Chaos.

The Shining Blades were a former Loyalist Space MarineChapter which possessed an unshakeable faith in its own abilities. They were victorious in battle so many times that they convinced themselves they could not fail, leading to the Berillia Massacres of 498.M34. Their overweening pride and willful delusion caused them to attack, in a frenzy of indignation, any who questioned their magnificence. Renaming themselves the Flawless Host, they have scarred the Imperium ever since as hedonistic servants of Slaanesh, still believing themselves to be pinnacles of perfection.

The Shrouded Hand is a warband of Chaos Space MarineChosen drawn from the Alpha Legion Traitor Legion. Other than their intervention on the world of Zharastia Jensen during the so-called War of Hidden Lairs, little else is known about this warband in Imperial records.

The Sigilites were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Malefactors.

The Silver Sons are a Chaos Space Marine warband that was formed by members of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion who were exiled by their PrimarchMagnus the Red for aiding in the disastrous sorcerous ritual called the Rubric of Ahriman. They are known to line their Power Armour with priceless metals that have been extracted from celestial objects. They believe this makes them one with the stars by bestowing upon them a measure of the cosmos' natural power.

The Smogrot Brotherhood is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 5th Plague Company. The enduring popularity of Foetid Bloat-drones with the Traitor Legion's Death Guard Lords ensures that they are ferried in great numbers to the war zones in which the Death Guard fight, and deployed in swarms that darken the skies. This is especially true in the vectoriums of the 5th Plague Company, with warbands such as the Sons of the Maggot, the Suppurant Sting, and the Smogrot Brotherhood fielding great numbers of Foetid Bloat-drones in varying pack strengths and configurations.

The Sons of Gideon were a former Loyalist Space MarineChapter of unknown Founding and origin. The Crimson Fists Chapter was called upon by the High Lords of Terra to exterminate the Sons of Gideon because they had been declared Excommunicate Traitoris after a routine examination of their gene-seed revealed that it had mutated to such an extent that the Space Marines of this Chapter had been driven insane by a chemical imbalance. The Crimson Fists mercilessly destroyed the Sons of Gideon's homeworld of Gideon IV and then hunted down the Sons of Gideon's 3rd Company which had escaped the initial assault and had been butchering its way through the 4 billion citizens of the Colar System. Almost nothing else is known about this Chapter in the Imperial records.

The Sons of Malice are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines who turned Renegade some time prior to the start of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. The Sons of Malice were originally founded to watch over the sectors of Imperial space surrounding the Eye of Terror as one of the 20 Chapters of the Astartes Praeses. Events leading to the Chapter's excommunication began following the successful end of the Cilix 225 Campaign against heretics who had threatened to depressurise three underwater hive cities on that world, and ultimately led the Chapter to declare itself to be both enemies of the Imperium of Man and the Forces of Chaos even as it took up service with a Chaos God, the Renegade God Malal, also called Malice, the Hierarch of Anarchy and Terror. Perhaps the Chapter's most eerie quality is that the Sons of Malice reportedly fight in utter silence, and those who have fought against them cite this as the prime source of the deeply disturbing aura surrounding them.

The Sons of the Maggot is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 5th Plague Company. The enduring popularity of Foetid Bloat-drones with the Traitor Legion's Death Guard Lords ensures that they are ferried in great numbers to the war zones in which the Death Guard fight, and deployed in swarms that darken the skies. This is especially true in the vectoriums of the 5th Plague Company, with warbands such as the Sons of the Maggot, the Suppurant Sting, and the Smogrot Brotherhood fielding great numbers of Foetid Bloat-drones in varying pack strengths and configurations.

The Sons of Ulthunas were a formerly Loyalist Space MarineChapter that turned Renegade against the Imperium of Man during the Ganymathian Betrayal. They are currently known as the Angels of Ecstacy and are Chaos Space Marines who serve Slaanesh, the Pleasure God. It is unclear if they are merely Renegade Space Marines who refuse to recognise Imperial rule or are now fully committed to the service of the Prince of Pleasure as Traitor Marines, though their increasingly mutated appearance and Chapter colour scheme would indicate that this is firmly the case.

The Sons of the Eye were a large warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to Chaos Undivided. The Sons of the Eye were a splinter warband of the Black Legion that was founded and commanded by the infamous Chaos Lord Drecarth the Sightless, the Blind Butcher of Irridous VII, a former Battle-Brother of the Sons of Horus who had fought alongside Abaddon during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy that followed. Always jealous of the PrimarchHorus' favour for the Despoiler, the Sons of the Eye considered Abaddon a usurper. During the 6th Black Crusade, launched in 901.M36, Abaddon visited his wrath upon Drecarth the Sightless and his treacherous warband. Abaddon aided the Sons of the Eye in an assault on the Forge World of Arkreach, fighting side-by-side until the defenders were finally crushed. The triumphant Abaddon then slowly killed Drecarth, even as he made him watch every member of the Sons of the Eye bow before their new master.

The Soul Drinkers were a Space MarineChapter supposedly created during the Second Founding, who were allegedly created from the Imperial Fistsgene-seed. The Soul Drinkers threw off the yoke of the Imperium which they believed was corrupt and were declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Inquisition, but they were still loyal to the Emperor and their gene-seed was stabilised after numerous mutations. Recent events revealed that the Soul Drinkers were not in fact the genetic sons of the PrimarchRogal Dorn and the provenance of the Chapter is now unknown. The Soul Drinkers were ultimately destroyed as a Chapter in the late 41st Millennium when they worked with the Imperial Fists to end a Chaotic plot initiated by one of their own number, the Venerable Chaplain DreadnoughtDaenyathos, to seize control of the Imperial Fists' mobile Fortress-Monastery, the Phalanx, and spread the power of Chaos across the galaxy. Though the Chapter has ceased to exist, the Imperial Fists honour its Astartes' final sacrifice in the defence of Mankind.

The Steel Brethren, also known as the Steel Brotherhood, are a warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Iron WarriorsTraitor Legion. They have been noted to make extensive use of gunship transports and Drop Pods in their planetary assaults. The Steel Brethren, like all warbands of the Iron Warriors, possess extraordinary skill and experience in siege warfare. The Steel Brethren, when away from the Iron Warriors' Daemon World of Medrengard, operate from the Chaos Cruiser identified as the Ferrum Invictus.

The Steel Cobras were a formerly Loyalist Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes whose blasphemous worship of the Emperor of Mankind as an animal totem prompted a puritanical Crusade against them by the Ecclesiarchy, led by a particularly bombastic Cardinal. Faced with such an assault by the Imperium, the Steel Cobras turned to the service of Chaos to gain the power needed to defend themselves. They are known to have established a base of operations deep beneath the ammonia seas of the frigid world of Tukaroe VII. Although the Imperium is aware of these Renegades' existence, nothing short of an invasion by an entire Loyalist Space Marine Chapter is considered likely to dislodge them from their fortified seabed bunkers. The only other option is to perform an Exterminatus on the planet, a fate that may still befall Tukaroe VII should the Adeptus Astartes refuse to assault their wayward kin.

The Suppurant Sting is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 5th Plague Company. The enduring popularity of Foetid Bloat-drones with the Traitor Legion's Death Guard Lords ensures that they are ferried in great numbers to the war zones in which the Death Guard fight, and deployed in swarms that darken the skies. This is especially true in the vectoriums of the 5th Plague Company, with warbands such as the Sons of the Maggot, the Suppurant Sting, and the Smogrot Brotherhood fielding great numbers of Foetid Bloat-drones in varying pack strengths and configurations.

The Swords of Khargoth are a warband of Chaos Space Marines who were formerly Loyalist Astartes of the Swords of Praesium Chapter. Descended from two once-loyal companies of those Space Marines, these Astartes turned to the service of Chaos out of desperation after being trapped on the world of Acropolis Vega within a Warp Storm for 70 Terran years.

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The Tainted are a large warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Death GuardTraitor Legion who are dedicated to the Plague Lord Nurgle in his aspects as the God of Despair and the Mortifier of the Flesh. The Tainted supplement their numbers on the battlefield with a large number of disease-ridden Chaos Spawn called "Plague Spawn", mutated Plague Ogryns and other horribly mutated beasts who are collectively known as the "Rotted Circus". The most powerful of these beasts was a massive Chaos Spawn riddled with Grandfather Nurgle's plagues who was named "Jibberjaw". The Tainted were one of the 11 Chaos Space Marine warbands to participate in the Siege of Vraks, seeking to aid the Forces of Chaos in the defence of the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks that they had seized from the Emperor under the leadership of the Apostate Cardinal Xaphan.

The Tainted Sons are a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion. One of the most feared vectoriums of the Death Guard, the Tainted Sons earned the favour of Mortarion himself while fighting alongside him during the endless campaigns within the Eye of Terror. Unleashed at last upon the ailing Imperium, Death Guard LordGulgoth the Afflictor and his hideously bloated warriors embody the implacable fortitude and relentless aggression of the XIV Legion, and make use of every available weapon in their ongoing war against the Imperium.

The Talons of Anathrax are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Argent Hammers. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Talons of Anathrax, named for the Daemon World of Anathrax where they had been corrupted.

The Tenebrae are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. Very little is known about the Tenebrae in current Imperial records other than that they fell to the service of Chaos in the centuries following the end of the Horus Heresy and that they are the rare band of Heretic Astartes that still maintains several Fellblades in active service.

The Thralls of Magnus are a thrallband of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. The Thralls of Magnus are the largest and most powerful sect of the Cult of Scheming, and have been since shortly after the Legion's fall. Many rival sects have sought to dethrone them, only to succumb to impossibly intricate traps and plots. The same inescapable fate has befallen countless Imperial and xenos worlds.

The Thunder Barons are a Renegade Chapter of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin. Formerly a Loyalist Chapter of Astartes, they eventually spat on their oaths to the Emperor of Mankind and instead swore their allegiance to the Chaos Gods, and to the Blood God Khorne in particular. Since their fall to Chaos, the Thunder Barons have become obsessed with looking for amulets and artefacts of arcane power that will enhance their abilities in combat -- and provide more victims for the Blood God's pleasure.

The Tiger Claws were a former Loyalist Space MarineChapter descended from the Astral Claws Chapter. Declared destroyed over fourteen centuries earlier and effectively a dead Chapter, a lone Strike Cruiser reappeared after having been trapped in the Warp and subjected to severe time distortion. Their world having been rendered lifeless and their Chapter an all forgotten legend, the acting Chapter Master travelled to Holy Terra in an attempt to petition for the release of their Chapter's gene-Seed in an effort to rebuild their lost Chapter. But subsequently the Tiger Claws envoy disappeared without trace while awaiting to petition their position and was summarily dismissed. It was later found in 908.M41 during the conflict known as the Badab War that the Astral Claws Chapter Master Lufgt Huron had in fact deliberately withheld his Chapter's gene-seed, not to replenish the Chapter's own losses, but at first in order to help save their near extinct kin, the Tiger Claws Chapter. The last remnants of which had sought sanctuary with them in secret. When the Astral Claws were defeated, 200 of their wretched kind managed to escape, fleeing into the Warp Storm known as the Maelstrom. It is possible that some of the Astral Claws brethren were in fact Tiger Claws, and now survive among the renegade warband known as the Red Corsairs.

The Tizcan Host, is a thrallband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos GodTzeentch that was originally formed by members of various minor sects of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion. The Tizcan Host is known for its shared delusion. Every one of its Sorcerers believes he passed from mortality entirely at the time of the casting of the Rubric of Ahriman, and that he has been reborn as an avenging angel. The host still believes it still has one duty - to rain the righteous fire of the Crimson King Magnus upon the Imperium that once dared cast him out. Though they pretend to be superior, otherworldy goodness, the Tizcan Host is perhaps the most warlike thallband of all.

The warband known as The Tormented regroups all the Possessed Chaos Space Marines counted amongst the Black Legion's ranks into one formation. Those members of the Black Legion who take further steps on the road to power and merge their soul with a Daemon, inviting a Warp-entity into their flesh and drinking deep of the Neverborn's corrupted power, forsake their allegiance to their former warband and join the ranks of The Tormented. Since their cataclysmal inception during the defence of the corpse of Horus on the Daemon World of Maeleum, the ranks of the Tormented have swollen and their influence has grown. Each Battle-Brother of The Tormented has a dark reflection in the Warp, the twinned sentience of the daemon sharing the corrupted Astartes' mind. These daemons, unsurprisingly, have their own agendas and will act upon those when the opportunity arises, making the warband as a whole a rather unstable and unpredictable tool of war, yet none can deny their horrific viciousness in battle. The most powerful of the Possessed Legionaries are granted the honour of serving as Navigators on the Black Legion's warships, as the blasphemous mingling of Materium-and Immaterium-born minds grants a Possessed the perspective to guide a ship through the Warp with a speed and precision no other can hope to match.

The True Sons are a large splinter warband of Chaos Space Marines that formerly belonged to the Black Legion and are dedicated to Chaos Undivided. Following the death of their PrimarchHorus at the hand of the Emperor during the final battle of the Horus Heresy and subsequent flight from Loyalist forces into the Eye of Terror, his Legion continued to worship him as a god. They bowed down before his tomb on the Daemon World of Maeleum and made daily oaths of loyalty. The warband known as the True Sons never broke with these traditions, even after the destruction of the Primarch's body in the wake of the Slave Wars. Covering their armour in the symbol of the Eye of Horus, the True Sons build effigies of Horus wherever they go, bowing down to them before symbolically burning them. They are known as the Thrice-Cursed Traitors to the Black Legion alongside the other Black Legion dissident warbands such as the Wolves of Horus and the now-extinct Sons of the Eye.

The Twisted Blades are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding, known as the Graven Fists. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Twisted Blades.

V

The Vectors of Pox are a warband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the service of Nurgle. They were once a part of the Loyalist Doom LegionChapter, which was created from unknown origins and Founding. During the Imperial Abyssal Crusade in 321.M37, six companies of the Doom Legion deployed and were lost in the Eye of Terror and reemerged into Imperial space centuries later as the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Vectors of Pox.

The Venom Thorns are a Renegade Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding that is a Successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists. Not much is known about this Renegade Chapter, other than at the end of their Crusade at the Eastern Reaches, the surviving Space Marines have settled at the world of Xanatar unsanctioned, refusing to give this world back to the Imperial Forces.

The Violators are a warband of Chaos Space Marines that are dedicated to the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure. The mutated bodies of these Chaos Space Marines are treated as personal temples to the Prince of Chaos, whom it is said looks very favourably upon these corrupted Astartes. Because of this, warriors of the Violators almost never willingly remove their Power Armour, for they consider it to be sacrilegious. A Violators warrior will only do so in the presence of those whom he truly believes are worthy -- those who fully embody Slaanesh's ideals of pleasure and perfection. The Violators have also been known to reveal themselves before a worthy adversary before combat commences. Often their bodies are surgically altered so that their physical sensations are heightened unimaginably by changes made to their neural architecture. The Violators have also been known to use electrical pulses produced by implanted electrodes to stimulate the parts of the brain that produce pleasure.

The Warp Gheists are one of the many exiled and estranged thrallbands of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the Chaos GodTzeentch that was originally formed by members of various minor sects of the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion that were exiled by their Daemon PrimarchMagnus the Red following the disastrous casting of the sorcerous ritual, known as the Rubric of Ahriman. The Sorcerer at the thrallband's heart, the Exile Magister Nezchad Aratos, enacted a revivification ritual that restored his brethren's forms -- but only as far as their skeletons. He died in the process, leaving his kin to wander the galaxy.

The Weeping Legion is a warband or vectorium of the Death GuardTraitor Legion's 5th Plague Company. The Weeping Legion is so named because its Plague Marines enter battle covered in the foul gore of their own continuously dripping wounds. With each layer of rancid filth and scabbing black blood that encrusts their armour, these clot-festooned warriors of the Death Guard become even more resistant to damage. Battling as part of the 5th Plague Company, the Weeping Legion are heavily supported by foul Daemon Engines that they daub with gobbets of their polluted vitae.

The ill-fated Wolf Brothers were the only known Second Founding Successor Chapter of Space Marines created from the gene-seed of the Space WolvesLegion. The Chapter was eventually forcibly disbanded by the Inquisition as a result of the rampant genetic instability and resulting mutation that appeared in the Chapter's Battle-Brothers. This instability may have been due to the Canis Helix gene that manifests itself at times in the Space Wolves themselves, transforming them into a terrifying creature known as a Wulfen. This trait was most obvious amongst the warriors of the Chapter's lost 13th Great Company. Some Wolf Brothers, however, chose to go Renegade rather than be liquidated and eventually became Chaos Space Marines in service to the Space Wolves' greatest enemies, the Thousand SonsTraitor Legion, and later to other Chaos Space Marine warbands such as the Red Corsairs. Some of these Renegades remain in the 41st Millennium, though the vast majority of the Chapter was liquidated millennia ago.

The Wolves of Horus are a large splinter warband of Chaos Space Marines that formerly belonged to the Black Legion and are dedicated to Chaos Undivided. The death of their PrimarchHorus left many veteran Legionaries of the Sons of Horus craving a return to the halcyon days when the XVI Legion was known as the Luna Wolves. The Wolves of Horus chose to relive those early times, and venerate their dead Primarch by bearing his name. When Ezekyle Abaddon proclaimed himself the new master of the XVI Legion in the ruins of Maeleum, there were those who turned their back on the Despoiler. These Legionaries remained true to the memory of Horus or forsook all masters. The Wolves of Horus fled deep into the Eye, their current whereabouts unknown. They are known as the Thrice-Cursed Traitors to the Black Legion alongside the other Black Legion dissidents known as the True Sons and the now-extinct Sons of the Eye.

The Wrathful Dead are a warband of Chaos Space Marines that splintered from the World EatersTraitor Legion. They are known to wear bone war helmets to signify the fact their skulls belong to Khorne. In this way they pledge their deaths to the glory of their wrathful god, robbing their enemies of their victory even should the foe cut them down to the last. Most recently, during the 13th Black Crusade, this warband fought alongside the monstrous Butcherhorde, a conglomeration of multiple World Eaters warbands led by the infamous Khârn the Betrayer, who led them in the slaughter of the Imperial world of Amethal in the Diamor System against the valiant defence of the Blood AngelsSpace MarineChapter.

X, Y, Z

There are no known Renegade Chapters starting with "X", "Y" or "Z".

Sources

These are only select sources; please see each Chaos Space Marine warband's or Renegade Chapter's individual page for a complete and more accurate listing.